Monthly archives: July 2020

Drug safety notice: Lodoxamide eye drops

Lodoxamide (Alomide) 0.1 per cent eye drops are out of stock until 24 August.

Where patients have insufficient supplies to last until the resupply date, clinicians should consider prescribing sodium cromoglycate eye drops.

Please see Lodoxamide eye drop shortage information sheet for further details.

For more information please contact the pharmacy department (City ext. 5263, Sandwell ext. 3783).

Estates maintenance work at City this weekend

The estates team will be carrying out maintenance work to the high voltage systems at City Hospital this weekend which will involve the site switching to generators.

Colleagues are advised to review the areas listed in the table below and note that each area will experience two interruptions approximately at the times indicated. The first when the area switches to generator power at the start of the work and then subsequently when the area switches back to the national grid.

Note: During this maintenance, please ensure you save your work regularly on your computer and follow local guidance on managing a power outage.

Colleagues from the estates team and IT will be onsite to support the recovery and restoration work on completion.

If you have any queries regarding the planned work, please contact Malcolm Partridge on 07773 630866 or Ian Hawthorn 07951069299.

PPE hub on the move at City from 13 July

An important note for those at City Hospital regarding PPE and scrubs.

As of Monday 13 July the PPE hub at City presently on D18 will be relocating to the reception area outside the Foot Health and Diabetes Outpatients Clinic – on the first floor at the front, adjacent to ED.

This area is sufficient for PPE but unfortunately cannot facilitate space for scrubs. Scrubs should therefore only be collected from the wards where they are delivered daily.

New common room opens for junior doctors and medical students

After months of hard work, the Junior Doctors and Medical Students Common Room, finally opened Tuesday 7 July.

The new area, formerly the physiotherapy gym at City Hospital, boasts comfy sofas, a kitchenette, and two rest rooms, which each house a reclining chair and black out blinds.

There are lockers and two computers where colleagues are able to continue with any work they need to.

Raffaela Goodby, Director of People and Organisation Development, attended the opening, alongside doctors Alison Eastaugh and Eoin Dore, who came up with the idea for the common room.

Watch the video below to see what the facility looks like.

Unity Reporting (PI Explorer) will be unavailable tonight Wednesday 8 July – 19:30 to 20:30

Unity reporting (PI Explorer) will be offline and unavailable tonight from 19:30 through to 20:30 whilst maintenance work takes place.

There are no reports scheduled for this time and the reporting service will be returned in time for ANP/Capacity reporting at 21:30.

All other aspects of Unity will be available.

Should you have any queries please contact the 24 hour IT helpdesk on ext 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers.

Trust wins ENEI award for Community Impact

SWB has won an ENEI (Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion) award for Community Impact and has been highly commended for Inclusive Recruitment.

The great work has been achieved through our widening participation project team which is led by Lawrence Kelly. The award recognises our commitment to supporting our overseas health professionals, care leavers and youth homelessness in their ongoing journey of recruitment and professional development.

This is great recognition for the Trust and further demonstrates our efforts in being a diverse and inclusive organisation.

Well done all!

Unity tip of the week: Use Dexamethasone power plan to prescribe Dexamethasone for patients with COVID-19 as per RECOVERY trial

This week’s tip of the week comes from Steven Shanu, Pharmacist and Jon Hulme Consultant Anaesthetist:

“Use the Dexamethasone power plan to prescribe Dexamethasone for patients with COVID-19 as per the RECOVERY trial.”

We are encouraging colleagues at all levels across the Trust to suggest any quick wins or top tips they have for using Unity in their ward, area or department.

All suggestions are welcome so please get in touch! The best suggestions will be featured in our Unity Tip of the Week every Wednesday on Connect.

If you have a tip of the week please send it to swbh.unitytips@nhs.net.

Critical care (ITU) at City – temporary move to D16

Critical care at City Hospital will be moving to D16 ward for approximately 10 days from the 13 July to allow for essential maintenance to be carried out on the unit. The unit will be known as CCS on D16 for the duration.

The move will include the transfer of all patients from the current critical care unit on the ground floor up to D16 on the first floor of main spine with a plan to return to their original ward on the 24 July. All current telephone numbers and contacts for critical care at City will remain the same and will be rerouted to D16.

We apologise for any inconvenience during the move. For further information on the planned move contact Dean Farrington on ext. 5098 or email  Dean.farrington@nhs.net.

Would you like to complete an apprenticeship?

With PDRs upon us again now is the time to start thinking about levy funded apprenticeship training opportunities offered by the Trust’s in-house apprenticeship team.

We are currently planning the following apprenticeship programmes to start in September 2020 using online and remote delivery methods initially:

• Senior Healthcare Support Worker: Level 3
• Team Leading/Supervisor: Level 3
• Business Administrator: Level 3

For full details of these apprenticeship standards and an expression of interest form please visit our connect page:

https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/apprenticeships-for-staff/

Once you have discussed this with your line manager please return your expressions of interest form to swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net

Closing date for expressions of interest:

• Cohort start date September 2020 – expressions of interest by Friday 14 August.

Hello my name is… Jawad Khan

We recently said hello to a familiar face, Jawad Khan. Jawad has been with us for over a decade; however, he has now been appointed director of medical education replacing Dr Chilvers who left the position at the start of 2020.

Jawad has spent a total of 12 years at the Trust as a consultant cardiologist. He has held teaching roles such as being the joint lead for simulation training, as well as the Head of Academy for Aston Medical School. He has played a pivotal role in designing and delivering teaching and education programmes, both nationally and internationally, over the last 10 years, with his area of research interest being simulation-based medical education. This formed the basis of his Masters in Medical Education thesis.

Jawad was thrilled when he heard the fantastic news of his successful appointment. “I was delighted to be appointed as director of medical education at a Trust which so enthusiastically embraces training and education for colleagues and that has a strong focus on delivering the highest standards of care for patients.”

He added: “The Trust is very focused on ensuring the good health and wellbeing of its doctors and nurses is a top priority, providing them with a clinical environment that can nurture them to achieve their full potential. I very much look forward to delivering the Trust’s education strategy in the coming years and join a fantastic, energetic and motivated education team.”

David Carruthers, Medical Director, believes Jawad is the perfect person for the role.

He said: “Jawad’s broad educational background and drive to develop medical education as we prepare to move to the recently renamed Midland Metropolitan University Hospital makes him the ideal appointment for this post. I’m sure everyone will support him in building on the strong educational reputation of the Trust as we go through the challenges of the next few months.

“Working with our existing and new partners, while preparing for the University Hospital, makes this a highly exciting time for the whole medical education team.”

Outside of the clinical environment, Jawad revealed he likes to remain active as well as doing activities to stimulate his mind. “I enjoy playing basketball and squash as it helps me to maintain my fitness. I also play chess as I find it intellectually satisfying and rewarding.”